Philips released a new roadmap for their OLED lighting products. The company decided to split its OLED offering into two families - one for decorative lighting and one for performance lighting. The decorative panels are normally reflective in the off state, and Philips will offer transparent ones as soon as next year. Color tunable and transparent panels will arrive in 2018. And Philips predicts that by then it'll be able to offer 1x1 meter panels! It will sure be interested to see those large, flexible, light emitting panels...

Decorative lighting roadmap

The downside of the decorative panels is the efficiency: In 2015 these panels will offer only 15 lm/W (that's only marginally better than an incandescent lamp). By 2018, those large flexible panels will offer 35 lm/W - which is still very low (Fluorescent lamps today offer 70-100 lm/W).

Performance lighting roadmap

The second product family is the performance panels. These aren't reflective, and will remain rigid even in 2018. But Philips plans to reach 130 lm/W by 2018, an intensity of over 5,000 cd/m2 and a CRI of over 95.

While the decorative lighting panels are fascinating and may enable new markets (such as the transparent OLED/OPV module developed by Philips and BASF), it's probable that the performance OLEDs is where the action will actually be. If Philips will be true to its word, by 2015 it will have relatively large panels that are efficient, bright and durable. Many analysts project that OLED lighting will take off in 2014-2015, and it seems that at least from the technology point of view, Philips will be ready. Of course, the real two questions remain - how much will those panels cost, and will Philips commit to real mass production capacity?